"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."
~ Unknown

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Devon Railway Centre and Lyme Regis

Last weekend we took Jason to the Devon Railway Centre in Bickleigh. I have to admit that we got lost going there. We saw a lot of the English countryside that we weren't planning on seeing. Ended up on some scary, narrow roads where we were thankful that no cars were coming the other way since there was nowhere to pullover or turn around for miles...

Jason LOVED the railway centre and he was at the perfect age to enjoy it! There was four to five old passenger cars that were converted into areas where model train systems could be displayed. The cases were equipped with push button response so the kids could make the trains start on their demand. Jason was so excited! Another three passenger cars were converted into a play center with wooden train sets, a play sand area and a huge ball pit. Jason of course loved the trains. He attempted the ball pit but once he found out he couldn't wear his shoes, he gave up on it.

There were two rails to ride there. There was a normal train ride and a miniature railway. Unlimited train rides were included in the admission. I think that we all enjoyed the miniature ride the best since it rode over to the gnome village. The "Gnomehenge" reminded us of Spinal Tap :)

Jason even got to drive his own train. He was in heaven! We only let him do it once, otherwise we would have dropped a ton of money on it.

From there, we drove over to Lyme Regis which is known for its fossils from the Early Jurassic period. We walked down to the Black Ven part of the beach where the shale cliffs were to search for "dinosaur bones." We found some that were too big to take home but were pretty cool to see.

We did find a few fossils to take home with us. One of them looks like an Ammonite. Dave is going to try to break away some of the shale so we can see it more. It was a bit difficult for us to really search since I was carrying the stroller and our backpack while Dave carried Jason. Dave is going to try to go back after we leave to head further out and look in more detail. Jason liked looking for "dinosaurs" though he was hoping we were going to find a T-Rex. Maybe next time...